Genesis 28:13 | 57
41
Esau held a grudge against Ja cob be cause of the bless ing his fa ther had giv en him. He said to him self,“ The days of mourn ing for my fa ther are near; then I will kill my broth er Ja cob.”
42
When Re bek ah was told what her old er son Esau had said, she sent for her youn ger son Ja cob and said to him,“ Your broth er Esau is plan ning to avenge him self by kill ing you. 43 Now then, my son, do what I say: Flee at once to my broth er La ban in Har ran. 44 Stay with him for a while un til your broth er’ s fury sub sides. 45 When your broth er is no lon ger an gry with you and for gets what you did to him, I’ ll send word for you to come back from there. Why should I lose both of you in one day?”
46
Then Re bek ah said to Isaac,“ I’ m dis gust ed with liv ing be cause of these Hit tite wom en. If Ja cob takes a wife from among the wom en of this land, from Hit tite wom en like these, my life will not be worth liv ing.”
28
So Isaac called for Ja cob and blessed him.
Then he com mand ed him:“ Do not mar ry a Ca naan ite wom an. 2 Go at once to Pad dan Aram, a to the house of your moth er’ s fa ther Be thu el. Take a wife for your self there, from among the daughters of La ban, your moth er’ s broth er. 3 May God Al mighty b bless you and make you fruit ful and in crease your num bers un til you be come a commu ni ty of peo ples. 4 May he give you and your de scen dants the bless ing giv en to Abra ham, so that you may take pos ses sion of the land where you now re side as a for eign er, the land God gave to Abra ham.” 5 Then Isaac sent Ja cob on his way, and he went to Pad dan Aram, to La ban son of Bethu el the Ar a me an, the broth er of Re bek ah, who was the moth er of Ja cob and Esau.
6
Now Esau learned that Isaac had blessed Ja cob and had sent him to Pad dan Aram to take a wife from there, and that when he blessed him he command ed him,“ Do not mar ry a Ca naan ite wom an,”
7 and that Ja cob had obeyed his fa ther and moth er and had gone to Pad dan Aram. 8 Esau then re al ized how dis pleas ing the Ca naan ite wom en were to his fa ther Isaac; 9 so he went to Ish ma el and mar ried Ma ha lath, the sis ter of Ne ba ioth and daugh ter of Ish ma el son of Abra ham, in ad di tion to the wives he al ready had.
Jacob’ s Dream at Bethel
10
Ja cob left Be er she ba and set out for Har ran.
11
When he reached a cer tain place, he stopped for the night be cause the sun had set. Tak ing one of the stones there, he put it un der his head and lay down to sleep. 12 He had a dream in which he saw a stair way rest ing on the earth, with its top reach ing to heav en, and the an gels of God were as cend ing and de scend ing on it. 13 There above it c stood the Lord, and he said:“ I am the Lord, the God of your fa ther Abra ham and the God of Isaac.
a
2 That is, Northwest Mesopotamia; also in verses 5, 6 and 7 b
3 Hebrew El-Shaddai c
13 Or There beside him
27:40 by the sword Isaac prophesies that Edom( Esau’ s descendants; see note on 25:25) is destined to live by pillaging. you will serve your brother In the tenth century BC, Esau’ s descendants, the Edomites, became vassals to Israel under David( 2Sa 8:13). from off your neck In the ninth century BC, Esau’ s descendants( Edom) eventually revolted against Jacob’ s descendants( represented by the southern nation of Judah; 2Ki 8:20 – 22). The southern kingdom of Judah had several conflicts with Edom thereafter. See the timeline“ The Divided Kingdom” on p. 536.
28:1 – 9 Because of Esau’ s reaction to Jacob receiving Isaac’ s blessing, Rebekah warns Jacob to flee to her brother in Harran( Ge 27:41 – 45). She gives Isaac a reason to send Jacob away: her concern over Esau’ s Hittite wives( 27:46; see 26:35 and note). Isaac sends Jacob away with his blessing to find a wife from Rebekah’ s family( 28:1 – 5; compare 24:1 – 9). When Esau sees this, he attempts to gain favor from his parents by taking a wife from the family of Ishmael, Abraham’ s son through Hagar( vv. 6 – 9). However, he apparently retained his Hittite wives( 26:34).
28:3 a community of peoples Isaac’ s goodbye echoes the language of the covenant blessings( 12:1 – 3; 15:1 – 6).
28:5 Genealogical details are listed here to reestablish the intent of the trip: for Jacob to find a wife within the extended family clan.
28:9 Mahalath This wife of Esau is apparently called Basemath in the list of Esau’ s wives in 36:2 – 3. Both here and in 36:3 the wife is identified as the daughter of Ishmael and the sister of Nebaioth. Both names may refer to the same woman, but the various passages naming Esau’ s wives are not identical. In 26:34, for example, Basemath is called the daughter of Elon the Hittite, but in 36:2, Adah is identified as the daughter of Elon the Hittite.
28:10 – 22 On his way to Harran, Jacob encounters Yahweh in a dream. Yahweh repeats to Jacob the promise he made to Abraham and Isaac( vv. 13 – 15). Jacob, recognizing Yahweh’ s presence in the place( vv. 15 – 17), makes a vow to God( vv. 20 – 22). His vow is conditional on God’ s blessing. This vow will prove representative of Jacob’ s relationship with God( compare 32:22 – 32).
28:12 He had a dream Dreams and visions are a common mode of divine communication throughout the Bible( see 20:3; 31:11,24; 37:5 – 10; Mt 1:20; 2:19 – 22). stairway This word, which occurs only here in the OT, derives from either the Hebrew verb salal( meaning“ to heap up”) or the Akkadian word simmiltu, which is used for a stairway of steps. The description that its top reached to heaven echoes the description of the Tower of Babel, which was a ziggurat( see note on Ge 11:4). See the infographic“ The Tower of Babel” on p. 29. angels of God were ascending That divine beings used the ladder shows that the staircase marked an entryway to the divine realm( see v. 17). The imagery also suggests that angels regularly visit earth to do God’ s work. See the table“ Angels in the Bible” on p. 2120. 28:13 above it The Hebrew text here can be translated“ above it,”“ beside him” or“ beside it.” If it is translated